Tutorial 10 Low-Re Flow Past an

Infinite Stationary
Cylinder

Objectives
This tutorial covers the following subjects in detail:
• Loading a DTF file into CFD-ACE-GUI.
• Setting properties of a fluid.
• Setting Boundary and Initial conditions.
• Setting Solution Controls such as iteration count; requesting graphics output etc.
• Submitting the model for solution.
• Post-processing for drag force.
Assumptions (requirements) for working this tutorial:
1. You are working in the directory where the tutorial problem resides.

Problem Description

U = 1.0 m/s
D = 0.2 m

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Tutorial 10: Low-Re Flow Past an Infinite Stationary Cylinder

The problem to be simulated consists of laminar flow at a Reynolds number of 1.0 around an
infinite stationary cylinder. The “infiniteness” of the cylinder is captured by performing a 2D
simulation (i.e. thus assuming it to be infinite in the 3rd dimension.) The goal of the simulation is to
determine the drag force on the cylinder.
The Reynolds number can be calculated as:

UD
Re = --------- ,
n

where U is the average inlet velocity, D is the cylinder diameter, and n is the kinematic viscosity.
For this simulation the cylinder diameter is 0.2 m. We will use an inlet velocity of 1.0 m/s and a
kinematic viscosity of 0.2 m2/s2 to produce the desired Reynolds number of 1.0.

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Modules and Features Used

Modules Major Features Other Features
• Flow Gas Phase Reaction 3D
Heat Transfer (Heat) Surface Reaction • 2D Planar
Turbulence (Turb) 2D Axisym
Chemistry Arbitrary Interface BC
User Scalar (Scalar) Thin Wall BC Transient
Radiation (Rad) Cyclic BC
Spray
Free Surface (VOF) Fan Model
Two-Phase (Fluid2) Momentum Resistance
Cavitation (Cav) Rotating System
Grid Deformation (Deform)
Stress Parallel Processing
Plasma User Subroutines
Electric (Electr)
Magnetic (Magnet)
Kinetics
Semi Device

Procedure
1. Load the DTF File.
From the File menu, select Open or click A File Open dialog box appears showing the
on the open button located on the tool bar. files in the current directory.

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Select the file named “cylinder.DTF” and press The DTF file is read into CFD-ACE-GUI and a
the “Accept” button to read the file. wireframe outline of the model appears in the
viewing window.
Note that since we expect a symmetric solution,
we have only gridded one-half of the geometry.
This is done to save computational time.
The control panel on the right is in the Problem
Type (PT) setting mode.

Place the mouse cursor in the Viewer Window A right-click menu is

and press the Right-mouse button. provided.

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Select the option “Simulation Properties...” from A “Simulation Properties” window will appear.
the right-click menu.

In the General tab, change the Description type- The title will be echoed to the model output file
in field to “Reynolds Number = 1” when the solution is run.

2. Specify the Problem Type Settings.

Ensure that the Problem Type [PT] tab is active
.

so that the control panel is in Problem Type

setting mode.
Under Available Modules activate the Flow
module.

Activation of the Flow Module implies solution of the U, V, and Pressure Correction equations for
this 2D simulation

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3. Specify the Model Options.

Press the Model Options [MO] tab to activate the The Model Options page has a tab for each of
Model Options setting page. the Modules that were activated earlier. In this
case, there will only be one tab for Flow.

Under the Shared tab ensure the following: These are generally the defaults.
• Time Dependence set to Steady.
• Gravity and Rotation body forces are off.
• Polar option set to Non Axisymmetric.
Under the Flow tab ensure the following;
• Simplified Flow Model is off
• Slip Walls is off
• Reference pressure is 100000

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4. Specify the Volume Condition Properties.

Click on the Volume Conditions [VC] tab. The Volume Conditions page is presented and
the Model Explorer changes to the VC mode to
list all of the volume conditions in the currently
loaded simulation.

There is only one fluid volume condition. Pick The volume condition is highlighted in the
the fluid VC from either the Viewer Window or Viewer Window. The Control Panel changes to
the VC explorer. show the volume condition properties.
Assign the following property values in the VC
panel:
• Setting Mode: Properties
• Density: Constant, 1.0 kg/m3
• Viscosity: Constant (Kinematic), Nu = 0.2 m2/s
• Click Apply.

5. Specify the Boundary Condition Values.

Click on the Boundary Condition [BC] tab. The Boundary Condition page is presented and
the Model Explorer changes to the BC mode to
list all of the boundary conditions in the
currently active simulation.

Ensure that the Setting Mode is set to General. The Boundary Condition Page has several
setting modes. The General mode allows us to
assign the values of each boundary condition.

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In the BC Explorer, locate and select the BC The position of the inlet (assigned when the grid
type “Inlet”. was generated in CFD-GEOM) is highlighted in
bold in the Viewer Window.
In the panels that open up on the right side, assign the
following values:
• Fixed Vel. (Cartesian)
• X-Direction Velocity: Constant, U=1.0 m/s
• Y-Direction Velocity: Constant, V=0 m/s
• Pressure: Constant, P = 0 N/m2
• Temperature: Constant, T = 300 K
• Click Apply to accept the assigned values.

In the explorer window, locate and select the The position of the Outlet is highlighted in bold
boundary type ‘Outlet’. in the Viewer Window.
Ensure that “Fixed Pressure” is selected (default) in
the drop-down menu of the Flow tab and assign the
following values:

• Fixed Pressure: Constant, P = 0 N/m2

• Temperature: Constant, T = 300 K

Click Apply to accept the assigned properties.

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6. Specify the Initial Condition Settings.

Press the Initial Conditions [IC] tab to activate
the Initial Condition setting page.

Enter the following values in the appropriate type-in

fields:
• X-Direction Velocity: Constant, U=1.0 m/s
• Y-Direction Velocity: Constant, V=0 m/s
• Pressure: Constant, P = 0 N/m2
• Temperature: Constant, T = 300 K

7. Specify the Solver Control Settings.

Press the Solver Control [SC] tab to activate the The Solver Control Page is presented.
Solver Control setting page.
There is a tab for each major type of solver
control setting. There are also tabs for the solver
output options available from this page.

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Under the Iterations tab, set the number of
solver iterations to 200.
This instructs the solver to run through the main
iteration loop 200 times. The full set of
equations will be solved at each iteration and we
will look for a 3-5 order of magnitude drop in
the residuals for each equation solved.

All necessary solution parameters are now set.

8. Specify the Output Options.

Under the Output tab, select output results with The results will be written to the DTF file only
the “End of Simulation” option. at the very end of the simulation. Alternatively
you may request that the results be output at a
specified iteration frequency.
Under the Print tab activate the following:
• Shared
• Diagnostics
• Basic
Iteration Frequency = 1
• Mass Flow Summary
• Force Summary

Under the Graphics tab, select any desired These variables will be written to the DTF file at
variables to be output to the DTF file for post- the frequency specified under the Output tab.
processing in CFD-VIEW. For this simulation, The variables will be interpolated to the grid
the following variables are of interest: nodes from the cell-centered values computed
by the solver.
• Velocity Vector
• Static Pressure
• Total Pressure
• Stream Function

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9. Run the Simulation.

Press the RUN tab to activate the Run Control The Run Control Page opens.
page.

Press the “Submit to Solver” button to start the A dialog panel is presented.
solution process.

Because we have modified the simulation data The data is saved to cylinder.DTF and the solver
during the solution setup process, the data must is started.
first be saved to a DTF file before the solver can
start. Press the “Submit Job Under Current
Name” button to save the information and to
launch the flow solver using that same file.
You can press the “View Residuals” and “View
Output” buttons to see real-time displays of the
residual history and output file contents.

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Figure 10-1. Residual History

10. Post Processing.

The mass flow summary found in the output file The amount of mass imbalance is a good
indicates that the mass flow into and out of the indication of the level of convergence.
system are equal to 5.0 kg/s/m

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CFD-VIEW can be used to post-process the

results:
• Maximum U-Velocity » 1.09 m/s
• Maximum Static Pressure » 2.107 N/m2
• Minimum Static Pressure » -1.517 N/m2

V-m/s

Figure 10-2. U-Velocity Contours

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The drag force on the cylinder can be

determined by the force summary in the output
file. Summing the Pressure and Shear force on
the cylinder in the X-direction yields 0.586 N.
Since we used symmetry and only modeled half
of the cylinder, then we need to multiply this
value by 2 to get the total force on the full
cylinder:
Drag Force » 1.172 N

11. This tutorial is now finished.

Quick Start Instructions

If you are already comfortable with CFD-ACE-GUI operations, then you may follow these “quick
start” instructions to very quickly work through the steps of this tutorial. If you have any questions
about how to perform these steps, then consult the relevant step in the “Procedure”.

1. Load the DTF file.

• Select File -> Open and read transcyl.DTF.

2. Specify the Problem Type Settings.

• PT -> Modules -> Activate Flow

3. Specify the Model Options.

• MO -> Shared -> Transient Conditions -> Steady

4. Specify the Volume Condition Properties.

• VC -> Properties -> Shared
• Select all VC's and group
• Density: Constant 1 kg/m3
• Viscosity: Constant (Kinematic) 0.2 m2/s

5. Set the Boundary Conditions.

• BC -> General

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• Group Inlets together, Top1-4 and Bottom1-4 together, Outlets together, and Walls together
• Select Inlet -> Flow -> Fixed Vel. (Cartesian) -> X-Direction Velocity: Constant 1 m/s
• Select Top1 -> Flow -> Farfield -> X-Direction Velocity: Constant 1 m/s
• Select Outlet -> Default Settings

6. Specify the Initial Conditions.

• IC -> Flow -> Default Settings

7. Specify the Solver Control Settings.

• SC -> Iterations: 200
• Spatial: Velocity and Density = Upwind
• Print: Mass flow and Force Summaries
• Graphic: Velocity Vector, Static Pressure

8. Run the Simulation.

• RUN -> Submit to Solver -> Submit Job Under Current Name

9. Post Processing the Simulation.

• CFD-VIEW can be used to post-process the solution

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